Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” was written in 1972. The seventies had a different energy and a different agenda than the previous decade, the sixties. The sixties were characterized as a decade of group movements and cultural movements. The sixties encompassed feats and action through numbers. In an interview with Bambara about her work, she claims, “the seventies is characterized by refocusing on the self (13). By telling her story “The Lesson” through only the point of view of the main character Sylvia, Bambara is stressing and employing the concept of refocusing on the self that she believed defined the 70s. Sylvia is a young African American girl from Harlem who is about 13 or 12 when the story takes place. Significantly, Toni Bambara also grew up in Harlem as a young girl in a community much like the one in the story.
Sylvia has a strong feminist attitude and notably, Toni Cade Bambara also has a strong feminist attitude. Bambara claims that because of the political struggle for independent black political parties during the 70s, she is “about the empowerment and development of our sisters and of our community” (15). This explains why the character Miss Moore is a successful black woman who gives back to the children in her community. As we can see so far, Bambara likes to put a lot of herself, her views, and opinions in her stories. Bambara writes about an oppressed black community because she is aware of the “racist, hardheaded, heedless society” that minorities like herself faced in the 70s (14). She writes about broken black communities, such as the one in “The Lesson,” to expose the struggles they faced and the help they needed. Bambara states, “One’s got to see what the welfare children see in order to tell the truth and not get trapped. Got to see more and dare more” (Bambara 14). In other words, Bambara writes from the point of view of the oppressed in the 70s in order to expose the truth about it to others. Much like Miss Moore exposed the unfairness of social class to the children, Bambara wants to expose the unfairness of social class to her readers.
Bambara also wants to expose the culture of a working-class African American in the 70s by having the story written in African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Janet Ruth Heller explains, “This dialect emphasizes the children's distance from mainstream white bourgeois culture and economic power and also reflects Bambara's pride in her ethnic heritage” (279). Heller then reveals “AAVE is also a dialect that Bambara herself would have learned growing up during the 1940s and 1950s in New York City's Harlem” (282). In other words, this dialect adds to the concept that Bambara wanted to expose the truth and reality of young natives of Harlem in the 70s and how they interacted with one another.
Putting all the elements together, one can now see that the main character Sylvia is a strong depiction of Bambara herself and what she believed in. Growing up in Harlem? Check. Feminist attitude? Check. Born into the working class? Check. Ethnic pride? Check. Would you have ever thought that Bambara put so much of herself into the character Sylvia? And would you have ever thought that the 70s had such an impact on the point of view in which the story was told and the topics of events that took place in the community?
Works Cited
Bambara, Toni Cade. “Toni Cade Bambara.” Black Women Writers at Work.
Claudia Tate. New York: The Continuum Publishing Corporation, 1983. (12-38). Print
Heller, Janet Ruth. "Toni Cade Bambara's Use Of African American
Vernacular English In "The Lesson." Style 37.3 (2003): 279-293. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Apr. 2012.
I think it is very interesting that Bambara chooses to write on a more personal level. I think it can be easy as an author to create fictional stories where realistic events are fantasized. Bambara’s choice to create realistic situations was her way to draw each reader into her stories. She knew that understanding of situations was based on visualizing yourself in those situations and centering one’s self before trying to fix problems of others. I was shocked to hear how much of an affect the 70’s had on the influence of Bambara’s writing. I feel as if the 70’s get pushed to the side and over looked when in reality it was a time of recovery from the wild ways of those in the 60’s. It was a time to find who you are and not to worry about those around you which is shown through the main character of this story!
ReplyDeleteI really like the fact that Bambara wrote this story from a personal perspective. It is easier to write stories that include personal experience or opinions while still creating a fictional story. I think that this story was probably easier to understand and visualize each event since it was written based on personal insight.
ReplyDeleteI find it really intriguing that Bambara choose to express her short story through a lesson on a personal level. I personally would have never thought that she would use her own life to reflect throughout the story. I simply can agree that the 70s had such an impact on the point of view in which the story was told and the topics of events that took place in the community. Social class inequality was the connection I saw to be very clear throughout the story. With the idea in mind that Bambara used her own personal experiences, I am in understanding with the fact that her main "lesson" was to allow readers to come to realize the broken black communities and the struggles the faced on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteI think it is really interesting that the 70s is considered a time for refocusing on ones self. I can see how Bambara incorporated focusing on the self in her story. I would have never thought that see encompassed so much of her self and her life into her story. I think by doing that it added to the feeling of the story. It made the lesson more apparent in the story.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. I would not have known that Bambara had made everything so personal in the story and pretty much wrote somewhat of a biography. It made it more real and believable now that I think about the story itself. The lesson seems as though the readers are learning it from Bambara, more than Sylvia is learing it from Miss Moore.
DeleteI really enjoyed how this story was told from the authors perspective. It definitely gives more insight and detail along with a more real life depiction of the story she is telling. While reading this for class, i was unaware of how much the author incorporated herself in the story, but after reading this blog i began to have a better understanding of how the author wrote it and why she did so.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I believe that Bambara incorporated her own feelings and attitudes in the story the "Lesson", I have to disagree that Sylvia is just a representation of the author. Sylvia is key in conveying to the audience the ignorance that most children express when confronted with such grave situations. To her life is fine as it is in the beginning of the story, but as she progresses through the story we see that she may still not fully understand the unfair hand society has dealt her by the end, but she does have a better awareness of it. To me this means Sylvia is meant to represent a community, rather than just Bambara herself. Sylvia's transition through the story can be said to represent the transition of the African American community, and their steady struggle over time to improve their lives. But this has to start with some kind of realization, which is exactly what Sylvia has by the conclusion of the "Lesson". I would even argue that maybe it is Miss Moore who is more like Bambara because she is providing all the evidence in a way the children can understand. Miss Moore is the one who understands what society has done, just as Bambara seems to understand and through her stories is trying to teach society a lesson. I do agree that the 1970s played a major role in shaping Bambara's point of view. Unfortunately it provided her with a reason to teach society the lesson of injustice toward the African American community.
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that Bambara writes this story on such a personal level. I think most of us don't understand what they had to go through in Harlem and writing based on some personal experiences helps us better understand what it was like.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that Bambara chooses to instill many of her own expierences into the narrative. I think that by doing so, the nuances of the story hold more weight then they normally would, if the story was complete fiction. I think Bambara's vivid depiction of the class divisions seen in society, as well as the monumental adversities facing the youth in Harlem combine to form a truly interesting piece.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post because I didn't know that much about Bambara and the fact that she put so much of her own life and beliefs into her work. And I kind of just read this story for what it was and never would have guessed how the 70's really timeframe effected this story.
ReplyDeleteI would have never expected that Bambara would choose to represent herself in the dense character Sylvia. Throughout most of the story i was frustrated that Sylvia could not see the point that Miss. Moore was trying to get across. This would lead me to believe that Bambara had eventually learned "The Lesson" and maybe is not as hardheaded as Sylvia.
ReplyDeleteI liked that you told so much about Bambara because I think that to truly understand a story you must first understand the author (at least some background of the author. While I agree that Bambara definitely used her experiences to influence the story and the characters, I disagree that Bambara made Sylvia to be a direct representation of her.
ReplyDeleteI also found it very interesting that Sylvia was somewhat of a reflection of Bambara herself. Reading this story for the first time I was frustrated that Sylvia was so stubborn and would not understand the lesson that Ms. Moore was trying to convey to her. Looking back on it now and knowing the information that was in this post, I feel more sympathetic for Sylvia's character because she shows the struggles that the author somewhat went through herself.
ReplyDeleteUsing writing as a vehichle to convey a message about life or to identify something about yourself is not uncommon in writing but sometimes it is more subtly done than others. Here Sylvia is used by Bambara and I think you did a great job bringing attention to that.
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